Pachyderm-a-rama

Feeling the thick bristly hair scratching your legs is one of the more exciting parts of riding on an elephant. Having their trunk search around to find your leg and snort on it is another. One of my favourite experiences in Thailand was riding and feeding gorgeous elephants. It's polite to let the elephant sniff you and then feed it some jackfruit before you climb aboard the basket. Once you're settled in, the mahout will clamber aboard your elephant's head and the journey will begin. The movement feels quite odd at first - kind of a pendulous sway - but you quickly become accustomed to it. The langourous heat of the Thai jungle is more bearable on top of an elephant; especially when you go through the river and he playfully squirts you!